NAALEH.COM and YU TORAH Recognition, Respect, And Repentance: Parshat Zachor By: Mrs. Shira Smiles

It is well known that the Maftir, the special final portion of Torah reading, for the Shabbat before Purim recounts the perfidy of Amalek’s attacking Bnei Yisroel as Bnei Yisroel left Egypt in a weakened state. Because this selection begins with the word zachor – remember-, the Shabbat itself is called Shabbat Zachor, We are exhorted to remember what Amalek did to us specifically at this time because Haman, the villain of the Purim narrative, is a descendant of Amalek. The Tosher Rebbe raises an interesting question in Avodat Avodah. Given this reasoning, would it not be more appropriate to read this selection on Purim itself rather than on the Shabbat preceding Purim? Further, why read this selection that recounts the attack at the end of the forty years in the desert and our obligation to remember it and annihilate Amalek rather than the original narrative at the time it happened? Click here for Summary by Channie Koplowitz Stein.